I think my letter of recommendation is crap..?

Obviously, I can't post it in its entieity here, but its very short (70-80 words, on my phone so I don't have a word counter available atm. It is literally 6 lines.)

I am an international student, by the way.

Here is what it states:

- Capable student
- very good command of English
- showed interest in international politics
- "am sure he will benefit from studying at British university"

Basically, I just feel it's so short and lackluster, doesn't make me stand out at all.

There is no other teacher I can ask :frown:

do you think the letter is bad?

Can I ask for my teacher to change it? How would I do that?

Reply 1

Origami Bullets

Original post by MrDigBick

do you think the letter is bad?

Can I ask for my teacher to change it? How would I do that?

Given that your reference should be the same length as a PS, it sounds like he simply doesn't know what he's doing, because it's not a university system that he's familiar with.

There's some really useful information here, so I'd suggest sitting down with him and very nicely asking him to use the info there to produce something closer to the expected length http://www.ucas.com/how-it-all-works/advisers-and-referees/referees/undergraduate

Reply 2

MrDigBick

Original post by Origami Bullets

Are you sure it is supposed to be the same lenght as a PS? It says "up to" 4000 characters, which could be anything, really.. are you sure they are usually this long?

Mine is 330 characters.. 65 words.. literally 3 sentences..

And my teacher is an IB-coordinator and has tons of experience with writing letters of recommendations for students applying to UK universities.. :frown:

Reply 3

Origami Bullets

Original post by MrDigBick

When they say 'up to', what they mean is that they expect them to get it fairly close to 4000 characters - certainly over 3000, often over 3500.

If this is what your teacher always does, your teacher has a lot of experience of writing crap references for students applying to UK universities.

Reply 4

MrDigBick

Original post by Origami Bullets

It's not that I don't believe you but can you prove this somehow?

Or can anyone else confirm?

This sucks :frown:

Reply 5

Origami Bullets

Original post by MrDigBick

It's not that I don't believe you but can you prove this somehow?

Or can anyone else confirm?

This sucks :frown:

I'll quote in carnationlilyrose, who is a sixth form tutor and so writes references for a living :smile:

I'm sure she's tucked up in bed now like all sensible people, so she'll probably see this tomorrow :smile:

carnationlilyrose

Reply 6

MrDigBick

Original post by Origami Bullets

I'll quote in carnationlilyrose, who is a sixth form tutor and so writes references for a living :smile:

I'm sure she's tucked up in bed now like all sensible people, so she'll probably see this tomorrow :smile:

Thank you. For a second I thought this "goodbye" emoticon was her reaction to my post, scared me ****less.

Reply 7

Origami Bullets

Original post by MrDigBick

Thank you. For a second I thought this "goodbye" emoticon was her reaction to my post, scared me ****less.

Oh dear, sorry about that! I put that in, it was meant to be a hello wave to CLR - we use quotes on TSR to bring others' attention to something, because they get a notification when you quote them.

Reply 8

MrDigBick

Original post by Origami Bullets

Oh dear, sorry about that! I put that in, it was meant to be a hello wave to CLR - we use quotes on TSR to bring others' attention to something, because they get a notification when you quote them.

Yeah, I realized this eventually :smile:

Reply 9

Carnationlilyrose

Original post by MrDigBick

It's not that I don't believe you but can you prove this somehow?

Or can anyone else confirm?

This sucks :frown:

I'm happy to confirm that Origami is correct. The space on the Ucas form for references is the same as for the ps. It is designed to be that size because the expectation is that all four AS subjects are commented on in depth and there is also a substantial space left for a form tutor or head of year to add in the pastoral stuff. Usual practice is for all teachers to add a bit to a template and for form tutors to edit it into one.

It sounds as if your referee has not been shown what is expected. It is certainly not a satisfactory reference as it stands. The link Origami sent you is definitely the thing to show him to make sure you aren't disadvantaged.

Reply 10

Carnationlilyrose

Original post by Origami Bullets

I'll quote in carnationlilyrose, who is a sixth form tutor and so writes references for a living :smile:

I'm sure she's tucked up in bed now like all sensible people, so she'll probably see this tomorrow :smile:

I was indeed in bed and have had a full day's teaching, so I hope it's not too late for me to add my two cents.

Reply 11

polscistudent88

To be honest I think a similar letter of reference would not do any good to your application (this doesn't mean that you would be rejected, but reference letters should help an application, instead of hurting or being useless).

You know your referee way better than any of us. So, if s/he is not too sensible, I would probably try to talk to him/her, showing my concerns (and in particular I would try to ask if s/he can highlight a little bit more your peculiar strengths, interests, ambitions, how you performed in your classes compared to fellow students, and so on...). As advice, I would not claim specific word counts...

Reply 12

mderi2012

Ouch about your PS!

I suggest showing your tutor some examples of "excellent" and "weak" PS so she could see sense?

Nice username...

So I just e-mailed my teacher and said I had consulted several people who had said it is too short, and asked nicely for a longer one.

I'm really nervous. I fear I will get a bitchy "deal with it" kind of reply, and that I will have to find someone else.. but there is no one :frown:

and it's so late now.

Reply 15

polscistudent88

Original post by MrDigBick

and it's so late now.

Just wait for the reply... I doubt it will be a bitchy "deal with it". At the end, it is an issue of being professional (he could say no if he did not feel like being a referee for you). So I really think s/he will do something about it, unless very busy.

Original post by ninuzu

Nice username...

tried to refrain from commenting

Reply 16

MattDrane

Sounds pretty bad mine was as long as my personal statement, one from my tutor and one from each subject. They were each very nice talked about me personally and about skills developed.